Past, Present, Future
by CowgirlImladris
Summary: Lin Bei Fong has never been one for emotions. Since her break with Tenzin, she's been unavailable to everyone but her work. But will the hardheaded Avatar change that? Will she be able to resolve her lingering feelings for the man who hurt her? Tenzin/Lin; Korra/Lin
1. Propositions

**This is my first LOK fanfic-I've written many, many others but am just getting onto : I don't own any of the characters in this show-copyright exemptions ect. ect. Please post reviews, they're greatly appreciated ^_^ Hope you guys enjoy!**

**Propositions**

"The girl isn't ready," Lin stated flatly. Tenzin frowned. Lin stated everything flatly, but he suspected it wasn't out of a serene, inner calm. Her words came across hostile, dismissive: he didn't care for it. He had watched her change from a jovial and fierce young woman to an older woman of just the latter, with a dash of bitterness which he felt responsible for. Every time he talked to her the air was strained, and he felt guilt and anger and despair swell violently within him every time he saw her. Pema had won his heart-but she had left scars in her wake.

"Why do you say that, Lin? If I didn't know you better I'd swear it was out of a personal dislike," he huffed. Her eyes, sea-green in the coming dark, flashed at that, and her slender fingers sliced through the air to emphasize her annoyance.  
"The girl is pretentious, arrogant, and demands accolades unbefitting of her actions. She is impulsive to the point of stupidity! What do I want with a brat like her?" the chief of police demanded. Tenzin felt the need to defend Korra from Lin's unnecessary brutal (though accurate) observations, but reminded himself he was here to get Lin on his side. He tried a change of tactic.

"Why do you think I want her to train with you, Lin?" he asked quietly. Her next angry remark, primed and ready, died in her throat at the softness of his tone. He hated that every conversation that they had was a debate, every word measured and placed for a specific purpose. He knew that his sentence would sway her, but he wished he could express to her that he really meant it, that he wasn't just playing politics on behalf of his pupil. He saw a hint of uncertainty cross those strong features.

_-a picnic by the riverside. deep cool waters. the first time he saw her unclothed. the first time she said, "I love you"-_

Tenzin bit his cheek at the memory and pressed his advantage.  
"Lin, you have years of experience and training that would be invaluable to Korra. That would help her think, and not get into the situations that she does," he said, real frustration and concern bleeding into his voice.  
This earned him a reluctant grin. "She does have a knack for it, doesn't she?" Lin replied. Tenzin stroked his goatee with a thoughtful look, but couldn't hide the smile forming behind his hand. On an impulse she didn't realize she had, Lin reached up and touched his cheek. He froze, the slightest blush creeping into his cheeks. She used to love the way he blushed, so sudden and disarming.

"Lin, what-?"  
"Relax, councilman, you're wearing a bit of your breakfast," she quipped nonchalantly, scraping the nonexistent sauce off of Tenzin's face with perhaps a bit more vigor than she had planned. He took it without question, but a red patch where her finger had been remained on his skin. Lin was embarrassed at her pettiness, and even more embarrassed at the notion that Tenzin would see through her charade. But she couldn't help the rush of vindictive pride that captured her when she saw the mark she had left on the man she had once loved's skin.

_-she bit him hard below his ear, and felt him shudder beneath her as her tongue reached out to sample his sweat-_-

Lin dug her nails into the palm of her hand at the memory. What was _with_ her today?  
Tenzin stared at her intently, waiting for an answer, but half immersed in the play of sunlight on her hair.

The chief of police straightened and brushed an imaginary spec of dust from her immaculate uniform.  
"Tenzin, you have some of the best judgment I've ever come across in a person, as much as I don't like to admit it sometimes." Her gaze settled on the departing sun, but when she turned to face him she wore her characteristic determination like clothing. She hadn't seen the genuine surprise and abashment on Tenzin's face at her admission.  
"I'll help you, councilman, and I'll help the girl. But I can't do anything for her if she doesn't want me to," said Lin.

Tenzin released a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding.  
"Lin, I can't thank you enough. Truly," he said. "I know Korra can learn so much about discipline...honor...bravery-"  
Lin cut him off with a wave of her hand and a wry smile that was all her. "Oh, get out of here, Tenzin. You got what you wanted."  
He stepped closer to her desk. "Lin, I mean it. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

She looked at him and for a moment she was lost in those blue-grey eyes, so full of sincerity and warmth—for a moment her defenses were down. Then she said, "Shouldn't you be getting back home, councilman?" in a voice that was not friendly. He stepped back, and she could tell from his hooded look that she had hurt him.

"Yes. Yes, you're right, I should," he said. He bowed formally to her. "Good evening, Madame Chief Beifong." He left in a whirl of orange and tan, strong graceful movements carrying him out of her office and into the coming night. She watched him go from her window, guilt creeping into her conscience. He was a good man. He hadn't deserved that.

But as she pulled the yellowing picture of them together from a compartment below her desk, another flash of anger captured her. Today would have been their anniversary. Had he even remembered? She wanted to tear the picture to shreds, but something always stopped her from doing so. Lin couldn't remember the number of times she had tried to destroy it, but found she hadn't the heart. She held back a tear and the ensuing sensations in her throat, and thought that after what Tenzin had done, he could stand to be a little more hurt.

"You said she was acting strange?" Pema asked, pulling Tenzin out of his reverie.  
"No, ah, not strange per se, Pema but...I don't know. I can't quite put my finger on it," he said.  
"It's not your job to figure out what's wrong with her, Tenzin," Pema said, a hint of acid mixing in with her normally sweet voice.  
Tenzin was a little annoyed. "I care about her well being, Pema, she's an old friend and-"  
She stopped him with a kiss. He was silenced by the comfortable feel of her lips, and his conviction wavered ever so slightly. When they parted she looked up at him with knowing brown eyes.  
"I know you care, my love. You should care. But I'm not sure it's anything out of the ordinary, so much as it is her residual feelings about the past."  
His wife resumed her dish washing, but looked back at him and said sympathetically: "She's never gotten over you, you know."

He looked away, uncomfortable. He suddenly remembered, voiced aloud: "Today would have been our anniversary-" He looked at Pema, sudden understanding flooding his features.  
"Oh."  
Tenzin considered this new perspective over the last of his rice. He got up from the table and kissed Pema distractedly on the forehead.  
"I love you," he said.  
She held his hand. "I love you too."

He walked out into the rain, seeking the solace of the meditation pavilion.  
_I didn't make the wrong choice_, he thought to himself. He bended himself skyward and released his glider, navigating the stormy clouds with an experienced precision.

So why did he feel so awful?


	2. Lessons

**Lessons**

"You have to feel the ground within the man-made structure, Korra," Lin lectured. She noted the beads of sweat forming on the young woman's brow, denoting her concentration and frustration. Lin was surprised at how dedicated Korra had been to her training as a metalbender. Then again, they'd only been working together for a week. It hadn't been all sugar and rainbows—Korra being Korra and all the fights which accompanied that.

Still, the chief of police was impressed with the young Avatar's focus. Unbeknownst to her, Korra had been trying with all of her will to impress Lin; she realized the not-so-favorable impression she had made on the strong woman when they had first met, and she wanted to change that. Through her usual hotheadedness and stubborn recalcitrance, she recognized Lin as someone deserving of respect. Even if she disagreed with her somet—well, okay, a lot.

"There! There you did it!" Lin shouted. The block of metal which had been sitting motionless before them on the sunlit pavilion jumped like a Satomobile engine...and fell again, only several yards from where it had originally stood. Lin allowed herself a smile, but saw the Avatar slump defeatedly onto the steps.

"What are you—what is the matter?" Lin asked, annoyed. What was this pouting about?  
"I...I'm not improving. I haven't...I can't even move-"  
Lin kneeled definitively before the despairing Avatar. A hand, pale and filled with vigor, placed itself on Korra's shoulder and she was forced to stare into emeralds.  
"Korra, you have shown more aptitude in this week than some of my finest officers showed in a month."  
She saw the vulnerability and exhaustion that colored Korra's features, and felt a sudden stab of emotion.  
"Korra..." she breathed gently, feeling like the name had been punched out of her. In that moment, she empathized completely with the young woman—with being uncertain of her abilities; with feeling like she didn't measure up. Trying to fill the shoes of her mother had not been an easy task, and though she loved her mother with all of her heart, she would forever exist in her shadow.

She knew what it was like.

"Between this and Amon and my training as an airbender I...I just want to be good at something, you know?" said Korra, averting her eyes once again. Had she been in a better state she would have cursed herself for showing such insecurity to anyone save Tenzin—but something about having the iron-willed and iron-clad police chief stick up for her so forcefully made her feel small...and so enormously grateful she didn't quite know how to express it, if she could at all. This was the last thing she had wanted—to show weakness in front of a person who (for all intents and purposes) had none. Korra had expected to be berated, judged—but she hadn't been.

A sleepy smile touched her face as Lin sat beside her on the steps. Lin, lightly embarrassed at how much emotion she had just displayed, tried to come up with something else to say (_maybe something a little less gushy? Spirits knew the girl was full enough of herself already as it was_) but before the pink lips could part Korra said: "Thank you, Lin."

Lin jumped a little at the sound of her name on Korra's lips (the young Avatar had been going out of her way to call her Chief all week), and even more when the tired young woman slumped comfortably against her shoulder.

"Ah-" she stuttered, feeling a ridiculous heat rising in her cheeks. She caught herself quickly. _Don't be a fool_, she thought wryly. Korra was quickly falling into a soothing oblivion—Lin couldn't keep her eyes from wandering over restful charge.

Golden rays lit the young woman's summer-auburn locks, highlighting the richness of her skin and the long dark lashes which framed the fiery azure eyes Lin had so often argued with. This wasn't the first time she had noticed the girl's beauty, but she had seen it in the detached way of a simple observer, not from the perspective of someone who cared for her. And Lin was starting to care, against her better judgment-Korra had turned out to be a better person than she had ever been prepared to give the Avatar credit for.

She took the only half awake young woman and propped a receptive arm over her shoulders, standing to lead her up the stairs. Ignoring their closeness, she led Korra to a sleeping chamber inside the little temple. It was a simple affair, a small but neat futon laid adjacent to a large bowl of water, with a bamboo mat for shoes propped in the corner of the room. A thin sliding door protected the room from watchful eyes.

Lin lowered the now fully asleep Korra gently onto the bed. As an afterthought, she bent down and wrestled the young woman's inappropriately winter-ready boots (Lin had always found them ridiculous, but they seemed now more endearing than anything) off of her feet and dropped them on the mat.

She stood, feeling satisfied at the morning's work and its...well...adorable end.

_I guess you save all that spunk for when you're awake, huh kid?_ she thought. As if in response, Korra curled herself into a ball around the thin pillow on the futon. Lin bit back a smile. She was about to leave when another thought struck her.  
_Should I leave a note? _  
The notion made her feel several ways at once. Lin grabbed her lower lip in her teeth, an action which used to drive Tenzin crazy (she never knew if in a good way or a bad way). Tenzin...would Tenzin leave a note? She rolled her eyes. Of course he would. She glanced once more at Korra.

_She'll be fine: you're _not _Tenzin, that's the whole idea. _

Lin put a hand to her forehead and sighed—why she was giving the matter so much consideration was beyond her. She shut the screen quietly behind her, looking forward to the next lesson.


	3. Office Work

**Here's the new chapter: remember everyone, reviews reviews reviews! :) **

**Office Work**

Someone's Sat had swerved way too close to the curb for the comfort of any pedestrian. Tenzin wasn't the yelling type, but whoever it was had gotten oil onto his monk robes—just in time for the cross-council summit they were having. He cursed his luck and poor car maintainers in general before flying into the building in a flustered hurry. To top off his general disheveled appearance, he was late. The receptionist stared critically at him over wire-rimmed spectacles, but said: "They're in the second door to your left, councilman."

He thanked her and jogged over to the intimidating double doors. He faced them, straightening his posture and brushing himself off as best he could. He took a calming breath before opening the door.

It creaked awfully.

Fifteen pairs of eyes glared and/or stared at him as he shut the door with the same agonizing results. He winced visibly.

"So nice of you to join us, Tenzin," said a smooth, persuasively-inclined voice.

_Well, at least I didn't miss anything important_, he thought, half grim and half entertained by Tarlok's high opinion of himself. Not that he didn't deserve some recognition—he was a driven man with a mind for strategy and politics. Tenzin just wondered a lot whether he had other people's interests at heart.

"My deepest apologies," he said humbly, a slight bow accompanying his words. He seated himself at the far end of the table , and saw a slender gray eyebrow raised in his direction—Lin. She gleamed in semi-monochrome perfection, even as her expression lightly scolded him. He shook his head, and she took it to mean he would explain later.

The meeting was uneventful, except for the bit about the Amon Task Force. Tarlok was (of course) lobbying for increased executive power, and to Tenzin's dismay he was granted it. Only two legislators and one other council member disagreed—and Lin.

He was surprised: as chief of police, he figured that she would (understandably) support Tarlok's crackdown. But she argued against it on the grounds that, to nonbenders, the increased public show of force would only validate Amon's portrayal of the government and benders in general. She, like him and the other dissenters, were overruled, but he was touched by her support and resolved to tell her so.

There were light refreshments being served after the meeting, and many of its participants stayed behind to mingle and discuss current developments. Not Tenzin—he grabbed a cup of tea and and hurried after the definitive sway of Chief Be Fong's hips.

"What a load of shit," she said bluntly when Tenzin caught up to her. He did a double take, both scandalized and amused by her language. He laughed.

"That's one way of putting it," he agreed tangentially.

"Hmph," was her reply, extracting a cigarette from her pocket and lighting it with an expert flick of a lighter which hadn't been in her hand two seconds ago.

Tenzin frowned, both at the act and at its practiced nature. She looked at him pointedly and blew out a breath of smoke. His eyes narrowed as she rolled hers.

"Oh yes, yes Tenzin, I'm burning at both ends. But its given my voice that particular husk which has been attractive to so many individuals over the years," she sallied. He fought a smile and lost. Lin was in a fine mood today and he found himself enjoying it.

However, he still felt the need to say: "Those things are bad for your health,Lin, you really should quit."

She shrugged. "I'm fifty, unmarried, and I'll be dead soon anyway—what do you want from me?"

He tone was more morbid than it should have been, and Tenzin noticed. He cleared his throat, uncertain of how to comfort her.

"Lin I—I just wanted to thank you for having my back in there," he told her. His words had the opposite of their intended effect.

"Why does everything always have to be about you, Tenzin?" she asked.

"I—what—?" he began, nonplussed.

"You assume that I was against Tarlok just because I'm aware of your rivalry?"

Tenzin was getting flustered. "That's not at all what I was suggesting, I—"

"Listen, Tenzin." She stopped and faced him, her cigarette flaring accusatorily in the afternoon light. "I disagreed with Tarlok for my own reasons. I listen to your opinions because they're usually good ones, not because it's you that's giving them." She exhaled and looked at him sternly. "You're much more full of yourself than people realize." She turned to leave.

Tenzin was about to say something in response, but he refused to say it the police chief's back. To Lin's complete surprise, she found herself being spun around and pulled closer to Tenzin than was decent. She was pinned to his chest by the hands which were clasping her shoulders. He held her gently, as he did everything else, but there was no waver in his grip.

"Lin Bei Fong," he began measuredly. "All I meant by my statements was" —he paused, perhaps noticing their proximity but refusing to be deterred, even as spring colors danced across his cheeks— "that I appreciate your advice and your attention to my own. In these uncertain times you are perhaps one of my truest friends and my greatest ally."

_-when they kissed it was a smoldering fire, calm but insistent in its heat as her hands reached for his pants-_

He let his brief soliloquy linger in the charged air between them before he relaxed his hold, slightly. Her hands were still against his chest: she could not bring herself to move them. She would not look at him, and he felt a familiar surge of frustration and despair.

"Can I not tell you as much, without angering you?" he asked softly.  
Her heart was in her throat and she hated it, hated that he only meant his words in the most platonic of senses and hated that she cared. She broke their embrace.

"Tenzin..." she said, and he wanted her to understand. God, he just wanted her to be happy and he felt like a prick for putting such importance on himself in making that happen. She backed away, then looked at him fiercely.

"Don't."

She had tried to sound collected and insistent, but her voice was compromised and she knew he would hear the emotion in it. She turned away and strode briskly toward Police Headquarters. He didn't follow, but watched her go with a dull, aching sensation in the pit of his stomach.

She allowed herself one more shuddering breath before composing herself and walking inside.

"Heya Chief," said a rookie, one of her trainees. He smiled brightly at her, but she gave him only a brisk nod before retreating into her office. She shut the door and breathed deeply through her nostrils before turning around.

Korra was in her office. Lin jumped and instinctively began to bend before she caught herself.

"Korra, what the—"

Korra...here? But it was more than that.

The young woman's body was nearly naked in a thin, blue-stringed bikini. Her foot was lightly touching the edge of Lin's desk, highlighting the shape of her calf muscles and exposing her entire inner thigh, barely stopping before the suit covered the most exciting parts of her. Korra's hair was wet, and droplets of water splashed onto her shoulders and ran in the space between her barely-concealed breasts.

Lin's heart was pounding and her cheeks were flushed, something she knew she wouldn't be able to hide. _Dammit_.

"Oh hey, Chief," sparkled the girl, as though she were completely unaware of the effects she was having on the other woman. _Because there aren't supposed to _be_ any other effects, you're her teacher for spirits' sake..._

Lin cleared her throat, trying to keep her eyes from roaming over that light chocolate skin. She tried outrage.

"Korra what are you _doing_ in here? My office is typically off-limits to civilians, spirits knew how you got in here—" started the police chief; Korra waggled her eyebrows suggestively and it took severe effort not to walk over to her and slap her, just to get all the excess energy out "—and shouldn't you be dressed in something a little more...decent? You know, being the Avatar and all?" she finished sardonically.

Korra shrugged and languorously stretched her shapely body before standing up, offering Lin a wonderful view of the young woman's backside.

"It's just a bathing suit, Lin, you don't have to get all parental on me," Korra pouted. "Besides—" she grabbed the towel hanging off of the chair (_My best chair! _Lin would think later, annoyed at the girl's boldness and lack of regard) "—I had this wrapped around my waist most of the time."

Lin bit her tongue as she watched the young woman's arm muscles tense and define themselves as the towel covered the girls legs and waist. A part of Lin was regretful that Korra had resumed her (slightly) more chaste look—a part of her which she was trying to beat unsuccessfully to death in the corner of her mind.

"Remind me what you're doing here," she said dryly.

Korra shrugged again. "I was on my way back from the pool and I wanted to see you," she said, tossing her lustrous bangs to the side of her face.

"I—well—there are other ways of contacting me than showing up to my office half-naked, Korra," Lin growled, flustered.

Korra winked and Lin's stomach did a backflip.

_Dammit!_

Before she could say anything else, Korra seated her (_wet!_) self in the chair facing Lin's desk. She leaned her head back and looked upside down at the police chief with mischievous blue eyes.

"I'm not here to bother you, Chief," she told the other woman. "Just pretend like I'm not here."

Lin rolled her eyes. "Fat chance of that, Avatar, you go out of your way to bully your presence wherever it's not wanted," she said.

Korra stuck out her bottom lip petulantly, and Lin wanted to slap that cute look off of her face before she ended up doing something really stupid.

But she was a woman of iron temperament and professionalism, and so she seated herself calmly behind her desk and began to review case files.

"I like your office, you know," Korra said. Her eyes roamed the sparse but classy décor.

Lin looked up exasperatedly. "Korra—"

"All right, all right, I'll shut up," she said, holding her hands up in mock surrender.

Lin bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to smile. "Thank you."

She resumed her review of the documents. After ten minutes of silence, Lin looked up and realized (pleasantly) that Korra was still sitting across from her. She looked alert, despite not having spoken for longer than Lin could ever remember her being silent. The older woman shifted aside the papers and looked fondly on her young charge.

"What did you do today, Korra?" Lin asked.

Korra blinked at her, then smiled slowly in a way that was somehow mature.

"Well, Chief, I went to the pool with Bolin and Asami and Mako—" she gestured to herself "—hence my uncouth appearance."

Lin stopped trying to keep her smile in check. "I see. Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, I did, actually. You'll have to meet them all sometime. I just wish Asami would stop hitting on Mako so openly, you know? It makes everyone uncomfortable," said Korra.

Lin's face lost some of its exuberance (or, whatever was exuberant for Lin). "I see...because you like this Mako boy, right?" Her perceptiveness wasn't always kind.

Korra's blush, for once, did not excite her. "Well...I don't know. It's complicated."

Lin could certainly understand—but she wasn't about to tell the Avatar.

"Well, you should do whatever feels right to you," said the police chief, suddenly re-immersed in her paperwork.

After a moment, she said: "I think you should go, Korra. I've got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it." She kept her voice flat.

"But I—" the young woman began.

"Korra." The hard green eyes stared at her. "Go on, now."

Korra stood up, hands on her hips.

"Well, if you insist, Miss Forever Grumpy." Lin didn't reply.

Suddenly, a soft hand trailed itself gently over her knuckles. She looked up quickly, locked eyes with Korra who said: "Til our next lesson, then, Chief." The young woman winked over her shoulder as she left, cerulean disappearing behind mahogany.

Lin stared at her hand.

_Dammit. _


	4. Epiphany

**The new chapter's posted, sorry it took so long I've been busy! Please review, and keep reading for Lin and Korra in the next chapter ;) **

**Epiphany**

The thickening shroud of night courted the lengthening shadows on the streets of Republic City. Tenzin strode amid flickering lampposts and between the soft glow of bars and restaurants. It was raining lightly, which was of no concern to him, but the orange-red flower he held carefully in his hand was protected from nature by a steady bubble of air.

He didn't know why it was so imperative for Lin to forgive him, for her to understand that he still cared about her even if (especially if?) they were no longer together. Again, he knew he was making assumptions—about the extent of her loneliness and his ability to fix it, if he was even the one to do that—all of it was awkward detective work that he could only trust his instincts on.

He sighed as he wandered through a half-familiar street. If she rejected him again this time, then he would chalk it up to Pema's explanation of a sullen and deep refusal to share emotion with him because of their past. If not...

He stood in front of a door he hadn't chanced to knock on in almost a decade. The house was modestly arranged, but clearly expensive. He steeled his nerves and rapped strong knuckles across the rich wood, and waited. He felt ridiculous: there was no guarantee that she would be here, and even if she was—

The door opened abruptly.

There stood Lin, in a long black satin robe made immodest by the kind of garb she normally wore. Her skin, pearlescent in the moonlight, almost reflected the rain's heaven to earth pattern. She was noble, her strength giving her a grace Tenzin never understood but had always yearned after. He swallowed, trying to belie the racing of his heart.

"Lin I—I'm sorry to disturb you at such an hour—"

"Come in," said the husky voice. She had already turned, and he followed the white sheen of the satin's lunar reflection, uncertain as to what would happen between them—what would she have to say?

The rooms were barer than he was used to, but what furnishings there were were tasteful. Lin had an obvious liking for Western-style interiors, and it showed in what she put in her home. He smiled a little at the single-color rugs, the plain but artful chairs, the wooden table in the middle of the room.

"Would you like some tea? I was just about to put the kettle on," she told him. Her face was a mystery, hidden behind falling slate.

"Yes I—I would like that Lin, thank you," he managed.

The metal pot pinged quietly as Lin set it on the stove. It rang in the still air as he debated moving closer to her, all poise and vigor. But she was soft tonight in a way he had never seen her be—she was usually all angles in words and in shape, but tonight...

_Stop_, he told himself.

"What's with the flower?" she asked, busying herself with finding the proper tea leaves to steep the water with.

Tenzin had almost forgotten he was holding it.

"Ah it's—it's for you," he said.

She turned around and looked at him then, with eyes that didn't pierce—only questioned.

He took a step toward her and held it out, feeling oddly like a schoolboy, something which he couldn't reconcile in the internal mechanics of his emotions. She took it, and their hands touched. There was silence as she looked at it under the night's light, turning it clockwise between her fingertips. It was a lovely flower. She tried not to smile as she filled a small, empty vase with water and set it aside on the marble countertop. Maybe she could get this—his brand of understanding and empathy. Maybe she didn't have to hate Tenzin.

_-the sound of the waves hit him as hard as the smell of her hair, the smell and taste of her skin- _

Tenzin would leave Lin's with four half moons on his palm—a product of his nails.

"Lin, I would ask you to just hear me out, before you say anything. I..." he stumbled a little, almost losing track of the thread of thought he had been running along for hours beforehand, "I just wanted you to know that...I'm here for you. We all are. But me especially. It's been...rough between us these past years and I take full responsibility for that. But now, things are in turmoil. And it's made me see who I can trust and who I can't. And I trust you with my life, Lin. And even if you can't appreciate that trust—which I can understand, considering all that I've put you through—I...I'd be honored if you would at least accept it. Lastly...Lin, I'm sorry about the way things turned out between us. It—"

"Stop, Tenzin," she said. A pit dropped in his stomach. The silence that followed was heavy as boulders for him; for her, it was a needed pause before she could say what needed to be said.

"Your trust...having it...means more to me than you will ever know."

His chest tightened at the words, a release of his fears and guilt—an embrace of the possibilities between them. He let out a sigh that Lin didn't fail to catch. She smiled grimly.

"It's not easy for me to admit that," she said.

The kettle whined insistently, like a child, and Lin shifted to turn it off. The sounds of hot water being poured ebbed and flowed around the edges of her voice. She put the metal pot down on the counter, her shoulders silhouetted by late conversations and sleepless insistence.

"I am the best at what I do, Tenzin. I am not my mother, but I have kept her legacy and the dream of her police force alive and well. But I don't imagine I didn't give anything up in the process."

She was staring contemplatively into the dark, an action that was a luxury. Tenzin wanted to reach out and hold her, never let go—he wanted to tell her that she was the most amazing woman he had ever met. He settled for putting a hand on her shoulder, the supple fabric of the clothing hiding the impressive scars beneath. To his utter surprise, she reached a hand up to cover his—his nerves lit at the contact, a spark he hadn't anticipated. The skin of her palms was rougher than his, but the shape and taper of the long fingers was still quite feminine. He smiled as he looked at her. She would be annoyed by the characterization.

"I think we should drink the tea before it gets cold," said Lin.

"Oh. Of course," he said, as he took his hand from the steady heat of her body. She handed him a cuppa that was somehow less warm than she had been.

"Thank you." he said, sipping the rich flavor of the boiled leaves.

Suddenly;y she was against him, the bright reflection of her hair pressing into his chest with a quiet insistence. He almost dropped his tea as her arms wound around his waist. The moment hung suspended, then he returned her embrace with his eyes closed, praying that she couldn't hear the racing of his heart.

_—"Lin I don't see why-" "And I don't see why you can't support my career, Tenzin!"—_

He held her all the tighter.

Lin pulled back just enough to look at him and tell him: "Thank you for coming here tonight."

He wanted to say a million things to those sharp green eyes, but he only said: "Of course, Lin."

She smiled, an expression that was unobtrusive for her, but it was breathtaking just the same.

He stayed for about another half an hour. They chatted about the small things, about his wife and kids, about her job. There were quiet chuckles and shared memories, a peaceful talk between old friends about the direction their lives had taken. When he saw the time, he stood up and said: "Spirits, I didn't realize it had gotten so late."

"Time flies when you're talking about yourself to other people," said Lin.

Tenzin laughed. "I had forgotten how funny you were."

She shrugged noncommittally. "So did I."

He felt that rush of emotion again, a mix of shame and guilt, and was about to say something apologetic, something meaningful and true, but Lin followed gently: "Go on home, Tenzin," and she smiled. Three smiles, this night: he kept them like trophies.

Lin walked him to the door as they made promises to have lunch. He felt strangely regretful as one foot followed the other across her threshold, leading him into a new day. He turned to make his body and her home a cross.

"Goodnight, Tenzin," Lin said.

He wanted to make new observations, new conjectures about the shape of her face and the muscles in her neck, but there was nothing more to say. He knew her, and yet he did not.

"Goodnight, Lin," said Tenzin.

She watched him go, and considered yelling something like, "Be safe!" after him (spirits knew how many of Amon's lackeys were roaming the streets at this hour) but she knew he would take every care he could. She shut the door, and retreated into a bed she rarely got the opportunity to sleep in. It welcomed her.

And as she came to the realization that she could move on, that the steadfast friendship and quiet loyalty and understanding that Tenzin offered was not beyond her, he came to the realization that he was still in love with Lin Bei Fong.


	5. The Party

**All right, guys, the moment you've all been waiting for is in the next three chapters. Please enjoy, I know you will ;) As always, reviews are appreciated!**

**The Party**

Korra picked at the cottony fabric of her red dress. It was a tad short, but a little thigh never hurt anyone. She supposed that one of the older guests might make a comment, but in typical Korra fashion she could give a damn. She appraised herself in the mirror, baring her teeth in a fierce scowl; then, trying on her most salacious expression; her trademark good-natured grin took its place.

"Korra!" called Pema from the other room. "I need your help getting these hors d'oeuvres outside!"

"Coming!" promised the young Avatar.

She had a brief internal conflict germane to how her hair should be worn (her makeup had been done earlier by a mature-for-her-age-but-still-her-age Jinora—Korra had had the good sense to do some touch ups), and at last pulled the worn bands free and let the brown strands of her long hair cascade down. With a defiant smirk she headed outside.

"Lookin' good, Korra," said Meelo, giggling and flashing her a thumbs up as she headed to the kitchen. She rewarded him with a smile and: "You too, Mr. Fancy-Pants Suit!" She missed him tugging irritably at his tie as she rounded the corner.

"Thanks for helping out, Korra," said Pema as she handed the young woman a plate of small sushi.

"Of course, Pema. You guys have made my stay here great—I want to do everything I can to help out," said Korra. Pema smiled, then went: "Oh!" She dropped the knife she was holding.

"Pema?!" Korra's voice had gone up several octaves, and she rushed to her side.

"It's the baby…but in a good way."

Pema took the young Avatar's hand and placed it on her swollen belly. Korra's expression, concerned to the point of almost battle-readiness, brightened as she felt the tiny life inside Tenzin's wife reach out.

"I felt it!" she exclaimed. The baby kicked again, and they both giggled this time.

"Won't be long now," said Pema lovingly. Korra smiled.

"I'll see you out there, Mrs. Hostess," she said, taking the plate of finger food with her.

Every year one of the City's councilman was obligated (ad arbitrium, of course) to host a snazzy but relaxed gala of sorts for all the who's-who in Republic City. Much to Tenzin's chagrin, it was his turn, and while Air Temple Island was a dream locale for such a party, he had been even more flustered and excitable than usual the past week. Korra and Pema had expected this, and promptly took over all managerial and organizational tasks—with Korra doing most of the heavy lifting (almost always literally) and Pema making sure everything came together smoothly. Tenzin had come back yesterday, preoccupied and fretting, to find that his home had been transformed into the perfect party atmosphere. He had hugged them both, and then absconded with his wife to parts unknown. Korra had winked knowingly after them, instructing Jinora to look after her brother and sister, then had left to her room to dress—thinking of one person in particular.

Lin stepped inside Tenzin's home, which was almost undistinguishable as such. She was promptly coat checked by a handsome young man in a tuxedo, which left her barer than she was used to. She exchanged quick pleasantries with a couple co-workers, one of whom was the young officer she had been training.

"Enjoying yourself, rookie?" she queried, grabbing a cocktail glass off of a passing tray and downing the contents in one swift go.

The officer, whose name was Tseten, spun around and stood at attention. Lin laughed, and he lowered his arm, puzzled.

"Relax. I really meant my question. The general hand-pick you to head out here?" she said.

He smiled. "Yeah, Chief. I'm obviously pretty excited about it. You look amazing, by the way."

"Just try not to make a fool of yourself," she said, grabbing another drink. A small lift at the corner of her mouth told him that she meant the comment good-naturedly. "You might want to try your smooth moves out on those ladies over there." He followed her gaze, and took a drink himself.

He saluted again. "See you later, Chief." Lin watched as he walked over to the pretty young women, who giggled as he approached. He threw her a happy glance.

Korra had already put all the hors d'oeuvres down, and she stood back to observe the fruits of her handiwork. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the food and themselves (or was that just the drinks?). Korra had already had quite a few herself, and was feeling a pleasant and heady buzz as a result. Well, regardless, they'd have something to talk about the next d—

Lin.

The background of voices and shifting bodies fell away as the young Avatar gazed the vision in front of her. A white half-silk, half-cotton strapless dress fell nearly to the floor, exposing the defiant scars on Lin shoulder which Korra found unbelievably attractive. Her strong collarbones and elegant neck begged kissing. White elbow-length gloves adorned her arms. Korra reached for another glass with a somewhat trembling hand, and thanked the spirits that the drinking age was eighteen.

The lady in white floated (or so it seemed to Korra) outside onto the pavilion. She could only follow, and her last mostly coherent thought of the night was that any actions she made could always be blamed on the alcohol.


	6. You're Drunk!

**Should have the following chapter up within the next couple hours :)**

**"You're Drunk!"**

Lin went outside to get some fresh air, feeling the slightest bit claustrophobic at the near-constant presence of acquaintances within a three foot radius. She wandered out onto the pavilion and leaned her arms against the wooden railing, inhaling the scent of the sea and watching the lights of her city wave to her from across the bay. She was glad (though she would never admit it) that Tenzin had persuaded her to come to the event. It had been…nice, so far. She heard approaching footsteps and quipped: "No luck, Tseten?"

She turned around, but it was a student of a different kind that she encountered. It was Korra. In a red dress, with her hair flowing down her back like earth music, blue eyes ocean notes.

"Heya, Lin," said the young woman. The stunning, gorgeous yo—

_Stop it!_ screamed the police chief to herself.

"Hello, Korra. Still working on your whole decency act, hm?" Lin said. The Avatar laughed, rich and free (maybe a little too free—Lin wondered briefly if she had been drinking), and stepped closer to her on heels that forced an outline of toned thighs. Lin swallowed.

"You don't like it?" asked Korra breathily, batting long eyelashes at the older woman. They were about a foot away, but Korra changed that by putting a hand on the banister, in the space between Lin's arm and side.

Lin felt herself blushing and tried furiously to stop, to pretend like she didn't feel every pump of her life's blood soar through her.

"I-I didn't say that I didn't like it, I—"

Korra edged her knee against the soft fabric of the police chief's dress, in the space between her legs.

"I—_Korra_! What are you do—"

In the moment Korra pressed her body against Lin's she also pressed their lips together. Lin felt the girl's hand reach up and caress her face, leaving a trail of tingling sensation. The time between the kiss's beginning and Lin's termination of it was occupied by breath and heat, by longing and lust, by a release of inhibition and a warring of desire and duty. There was a second where Lin felt guiltless pleasure at the contact, where the flush in her face traveled down her torso and hit right below it, spreading warmth an irrevocable want.

Then Lin pushed Korra away, grabbing her arm in a grip which (in the young woman's current state) turned the pain into something else.

"What the hell are you doing?!" whispered the police chief fiercely. She wiped the lipstick that had been smeared at the corner of her mouth by the young woman's lips away, leaving a damning mark on her white glove. She let out a hiss of disgust and frustration.

"I was kissing a beautiful woman," replied Korra dreamily.

Lin's head was swimming with a dozen emotions at that answer, emotions that she shouldn't have but emotions that wanted to consume her and that were yelling at her to claim those lips again.

"You idiot!" she continued instead. "Do you even—we're in the middle of a public gathering, do you have any idea what a fool you look? What a fool you  
are making _me_ look?!"

"I just wanted to know what you taste like…" the young woman trailed off. Lin could hear the slight slur in her voice, and for a minute she was irrationally angry. She dragged the mostly agreeable Avatar behind her, out of sight of most of the partygoers. She needed to talk to Korra, but not here.

She found Pema, which in any other circumstance would have been an awkward encounter, but it was the least of Lin's concerns at the moment—or, at least,  
tertiary.

"Oh, hello Lin. You look lovely," said Pema neutrally.

"Hello Pema. It's good to see you," said Lin. Pema peeked behind her, an eyebrow raised.

"Is that Korra behind you?" Pema asked, a little surprised.

Lin pulled her former lover's wife closer, and whispered in her ear: "Korra has gone a little heavy on the cocktails tonight. I'm going to take her back to my house for the night—no one needs to see her here acting a fool, and there's no guarantee you can persuade her to stay in her room for the remainder of the  
night."

During Lin's pitch Pema's face changed from annoyed to questioning to agreeable.

"Fair enough, Lin. Will you bring her back in the morning?" said Pema.

Lin said, "Of course," and turned to go. A hand fell against her forearm, and her inquiring gaze was met with a smile.

"Thanks for looking out for her," said Pema.

Lin smiled back. "The things we do for the young, right? I was rather enjoying myself—but don't tell Tenzin."

They both laughed.

"Which reminds me, I never did congratulate you on your new arrival," said Lin, nodding toward the other woman's pregnant tummy. Pema placed a hand over it and rubbed gently in circles.

When she looked up, she said: "Thanks Lin," and smiled again.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

She left the house, Korra in tow. Although strangely touched by her recent interaction, her iron temperament promptly returned. She all but threw Korra into the police-issue speed boat (more luxurious than the standard issue, due to the fact that the general had insisted Lin take his personal cruiser out for  
a spin). She revved up the engine, almost forgetting about Korra's physical presence in the midst of fuming over her recent actions, reimagined by Lin's  
beginning-to-ache head.

The boat sped along the bay, throwing up a fine spray in its wake. Lin piloted it aggressively, almost recklessly. The arms winding gently but a little  
sloppily around her waist jolted her out of her haze.

Unfortunately, the boat jolted too, spinning out of control in the (thankfully empty) waters.

"Korra!" Lin yelled, turning on her heel once she had gotten the vessel to settle. She was about to continue her tirade, but the moon on Korra's dark skin  
and the suppleness it elicited stopped her. Those blue eyes looked at her, searchingly, coyly.

"Do you really dislike it that much?" asked the young woman as she came closer.

Lin was panicking. _Not again. I won't be able to—_

"Mmmnnn—"

_—stop…_

Korra's mouth found hers again under the starlight, and Lin Bei Fong found that she didn't have the heart to pull away this time. Her breath hitched as the  
girl brushed back the hair from her face; bit back a moan as Korra ran slender fingers teasingly across the fabric above her nipple; melted as the young  
Avatar took one of Lin's hands in her own and guided it up her knee. Lin's eyes opened in shock when her fingertips were unhindered by cloth—they touched the wet folds of Korra's vagina with no resistance, and it was with horror and ecstasy that she watched the young woman close her eyes and groan.

"Lin," Korra whimpered, and it was so exquisite that Lin found her teeth at the girl's neck, biting with perhaps more force than she had intended. It excited Korra: her hand trailed sensuously down her own torso and between her legs, kneading her most sensitive spot, filling herself with waves of sensation while Lin forced herself to break their embrace.

Her marble cheeks were bright red, and she caught gulps of air like a drowning man.

"Korra you—you have to stop…" It was almost a plea.

"Lin…" began the young woman as she started to remove her clothing. "I thought that, from all of this"—she took off her shoes, one by one—"you would realize that I"—her hands found her hem of her tight fitting dress, and she shimmied out of it in one smooth movement—

The red cloth fell to the wooden deck. Korra stood caressed by nothing but air. Lin's stomach was made of butterflies.

"—don't want to stop," she finished.


	7. Irrevocable

**It's what you've all been waiting for ;) Please review, this is an important part of the story! :P **

**Irrevocable**

She waited another moment, before going over to where Lin stood rooted to the spot, all ridges and tension. She took the other woman's hand and kissed the open palm, lightly grazing it with her teeth as she pressed her mouth against it tenderly. Lin shivered. Korra looked sincerely at her from behind the shape of her own hand:

"Are you going to make me beg, Chief?"

Lin stared at the beautiful girl in front of her, so honest and real in her appraisal of her attraction, and found herself falling.

"Korra…" she said, and it was like a spell.

She leaned in and kissed the young woman, at first with all the care of a childhood sweetheart. The hair on the back of each other's necks was explored; the feel of skin and the rush of desire. The kiss deepened—Korra wound her tongue around Lin's, entering the other's mouth with a youthful vigor Lin was equal to. Her hand gripped the back of the young Avatar's head, entangling her fingers in the soft brown hair. Korra had begun to unzip the back of Lin's dress—when it reached just above the older woman's tailbone, she slid her hand under the fabric and grabbed Lin's ass with an insistence that made the police chief moan.

When they broke apart they were both panting, hot with passion. Korra eagerly helped Lin out of her dress.

"Let me take these gloves off too," said Lin. They joined the pile adjacent to the small bench on the inside hull. Korra ran her hands over the exposed white skin, taking a moment to marvel that this was really happening.

"I'm sorry I'm not…you know…" Lin trailed off awkwardly, irritated at being  
made to feel self-conscious. To her surprise, Korra laughed.

"Lin…you are the sexiest woman I have ever met," she said. She took a step back to admire the muscled torso, the lovely scars, the curvy waist and the well-shaped breasts. Lin slipped her fingers between Korra's before leaning in to fasten their lips together. Lin thought that it would happen again, that subtle but unstoppable escalation, but Korra had other plans. She pulled back and kissed between the chief's breasts, then licked from navel downward—

"Ah!" cried Lin as Korra licked her, taint to clitoris, a path that made the older woman thrust her pelvis forward in a way that was far from reserved. Korra's tongue wasn't particularly skillful (Lin wondered briefly if she had ever been with another woman before—the thought came with both a feeling of relief and a stab of jealousy), but the fact that it was _Korra_ kneeling so prettily in front of her, Korra that wanted her  
the way she did—

But Lin wasn't used to this, to being the receiver and not the giver. And an instinct was rising, one that urged her to do things that would make the young woman groan and beg and arch in all kinds of ways…

Lin trailed her finger under Korra's jaw, hooked beneath the chin to gaze into her eyes. The expression on Korra's face, salacious and innocent at once, made Lin ache in her heart and below. She knelt and nipped lightly at the space between the young woman's collarbone and shoulder.

"Unh…" was the response, and it emboldened the chief.

A slight blush still coloring her porcelain skin, she teased an already-erect brown nipple with her tongue.

"Put it in your mouth," gasped Korra.

"How do we ask for things, Korra?" Lin countered. She took the nipple between her thumb and forefinger and squeezed lightly, moving Korra's whole body.

"Please," whimpered the young woman.

At once, Lin covered the dark bud with the heat of her mouth, swirling her tongue around the areola before sucking—gently at first, but with an increased force that matched the volume of Korra's cries—the nipple itself. The young Avatar's hand slipped in between her own legs, and when Lin pulled back to watch Korra pleasure herself she found she couldn't take it.

"Lie back," she said, and it was a command—one that Korra was more than happy to comply with. The tension coiled in her stomach undulated back and forth in a pattern which was threatening to overthrow what little restraint she was still tentatively holding onto.

"Oh, fu—_unh_!" she cried, and there went the restraint—as Lin overloaded the young woman's senses by sucking forcefully on the essence she had so sweetly exposed to the night air. Korra squirmed and shuddered as her vaginal muscles contracted under Lin's expert  
ministrations, closing tightly, achingly, around nothing but—

Lin slipped a finger inside her and she gasped, bucking her hips so that the digit slid, hard, in and out, in and out...another finger was added, and another, until Korra found herself kneeling, ass turned up to the sky while Lin thrust against the sensitive muscles of the young woman's pussy.

"Do you like it?" came the low, unintentionally seductive question. Lin thought she knew the answer from the way Korra's juices coated her fingers like honey, pooling slowly on the deck. There was no answer immediately forthcoming: flushed and made desperate by what the older woman was doing to her, Korra could do nothing but twist and moan into her touch for another two minutes.

"Lin…"

Korra finally got herself together long enough to sit up—Lin's fingers still buried tantalizingly inside her—and gazed into the forest of the other woman's eyes in all their emerald hardness, depth. The kiss they shared was gentle enough to break Lin's heart.

"Oh, Korra…" she heard herself murmuring. They exchanged breath—in and out, in and out…

When Lin got on top of the young woman again, it was with a slowness that spoke of a hidden tenderness. The spaces between their legs touched, pressed, to a simultaneous exhalation and exhilaration. Korra felt—with a rush of surprise, bliss, and a hint of fear—her anus tighten and come close to vibrating as Lin moved their bodies together, angling herself in such a way that it pleasured them both. Korra reached up and traced the fine structure of the older woman's cheekbones, ran her fingertips over the firm outline of her lips. Fire raced across the surface of her skin and beneath as Lin took that finger in her mouth and, gazing at Korra with an intensity that made the young woman tremble, bit down and sucked until she held the literal taste of Korra on her tongue. The young Avatar felt herself edging closer to the threshold of orgasm.

"Lin I—I want to come with you in me," she breathed. She meant, of course, that she wanted to feel the police chief's fingers manipulate the reaches of her pleasure, wanted to feel herself close around the other woman's hand as she found climax. But Lin had other ideas.

She got up—to Korra's instant dismay—and went below deck. The young woman sat up, a thousand thoughts running through her head (most of them related to how, exactly, she could have screwed this up, how what she just said could have offended her lover), and when Lin returned she was in state of high agitation.

"Did I—" she began, but Lin held up a finger.

"Korra…have you ever been with a man?" she asked. A lump of metal, shapeless but quite solid, gleamed quietly in her left hand.

"No, I haven't but—what does that—"

Her question was answered as she watched, mesmerized, as Lin closed her eyes and concentrated—watched as the metal began to smooth out and even; watched as it wrapped around Lin's waist and over her openings to connect in the back; watched, as the metal rotated itself into a phallic curve.

When she was finished, Lin cupped the head in her hand, looking a kind of magnificent to Korra. The older woman's face was tinged a light pink.

"Is this…disagreeable to you?" she asked.

Korra laid back down, a sinuous expectation in her movements. She looked at the other woman between opened legs, and reached down to part her lips with her fingers, giving Lin a lovely view of her vagina.

"Won't you take me, Chief?" she groaned.

Lin didn't disappoint.

She bent over her for a third time, and found her teeth grabbing her bottom lip as she watched the crafted dildo enter Korra—the young woman arched as she felt the warm metal slip inside her, and Lin began almost at once to thrust. They were long and hard at first—Korra moaned every time the top of it brushed against that spot inside her which she found brought an electrifying amount of pleasure, would twist mournfully as came languorously out, only to moan and grab at her breasts as Lin bucked her hips forward again in a smooth, deep  
motion.

It was good for Lin, too—she had made two nubs in the harness (one for her pussy, one for her ass), and every time she moved they rubbed against her in a way that she wasn't sure she could take for very much longer.

The thrusts came faster now: Korra was letting out lustful little squeals every time Lin pressed against her clitoris, and Lin couldn't help but bend down and tongue the inside of the young woman's mouth as she fucked her. Coming up for air, she held the inside of Korra's knee, bending her leg back so she could watch her apparatus driving hard into Korra, who was biting her forefinger to keep from crying out in earnest. Lin's connection to the metal made it feel almost as though it was her own flesh buried inside the girl, and in her minds  
eye she mapped Korra's innermost regions. When her fingernails pressed gently against the entrance to the young Avatar's ass, Korra's blue eyes opened wide and she groaned.

"Unnhhh…Lin, keep—ah, keep doing that please," she implored the older woman.

"Doing what?" asked Lin huskily. She hadn't slowed pace, and teasingly ran her fingertip over Korra's anus. The young woman thrust her pelvis forward pleadingly, and Lin slipped a finger into her ass.

"That?"

"Ah…yes…"

Korra' arms wound around Lin's neck, and sparks flew as they saw themselves reflected in each other's eyes. Korra kissed her partner hungrily, knowing that she was close. Her orgasm took her in the next moment, and Lin pressed her lips to the curvature of Korra's throat as the young woman came.

"Unnh!" she cried, and Lin felt every muscle in Korra's body tighten sensuously as sweet juice leaked out of her vagina and onto the wood, spilling out of her with more force and in more volume than either of them had anticipated. Every part of Korra was sensitized in the extreme, the hot and monumental presence of Lin still inside her making her shiver as the contractions of her vagina and ass decreased, slowly, to the occasional throb.

"Spirits, Lin…I didn't know…" she breathed.

But Lin hadn't finished yet—watching the young woman climax had left her in a similar state, and it only took a few more thrusts before she felt herself go over the edge. Korra wrapped her legs around Lin's lower back, pushing the dildo in as far as it would go, as the older woman was claimed by her orgasm. Korra's lips fell against hers as their bodies twined together, breasts and skin  
touching under the moonlight in the middle of the bay.

Lin felt the warm ebb and flow of Korra's caresses as she rode out the last waves of her pleasure, and staring into the young woman's eyes brought on a sudden swell of emotion. She kissed Korra hard to cover it up.

They lay softly against one another, as midnight turned to morning.


End file.
